


Roses and Thorns

by fluffy_Socks19



Series: Stories of Roseclan [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fan Characters, Fan clan, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-04 22:16:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15850506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffy_Socks19/pseuds/fluffy_Socks19
Summary: When a kittypet walks into Roseclan claiming he is the father of Birchsong's kits, Chestnutdust's whole world is shattered. If his mate can betray him like this he believes he can’t trust anyone anymore. Will they work things out? Will Chestnutdust trust Birchsong again?This story begins when Birchsong and Chestnutdust are apprentices.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s nose twitched as it sniffed at blackberry. She grinned, it didn’t know she was there. She crept downwind of it, making sure her tail didn’t brush against the ferns. Her claws slid out and she sprung. Her sharp nails dug into it’s neck fur, and as it squealed she gave it a killing bite and dragged it out into the open.  
“Nice catch!”  
“Not really, it probably scared every mouse and vole away,” Birchpaw joked.  
Thornvine chuckled,” it was almost as loud as Lionpaw’s whining!”  
As she and her mentor was laughing, Birchpaw heard someone calling out to her.  
She turned around to see Chestnutpaw and his mentor, Blossomcurl, leaping over a log carrying a couple squirrels by the tails.  
“We found a whole bunch of them!” Chestnutpaw’s voice was muffled by the squirrels.  
Thornvine’s nose wrinkled,”squirrels are too furry to eat, I like shrews better.”  
“Don’t say that, you’re starting to sound like an elder,” Blossomcurl teased her mother.  
“I’m not that old!” She protested as they all giggled.  
They picked up their catches and headed back to their camp. They leaped from one rock to another, careful not to drop their catches into the shallow but fast running water below. They padded into camp, the rose bushes’ thorns brushing against their pelts.  
“Birchpaw, Chestnutpaw, can you two take the prey to the pile, Blossomcurl and I are going to talk with Pricklestar,” Thornvine said. The two apprentices nodded and picked up the prey their mentors had dropped. They trotted over to the freshkill pile, their pelts brushing. They had placed the prey onto the pile when someone called out to them.  
“Hey! Hey! Birchpaw, Chestnutpaw! Come eat some prey with us!” They looked over to see Dandelionpaw, Lionpaw, Doepaw and Horsepaw eating prey by the medicine den.  
Birchpaw smiled at Chestnutpaw before picking up a shrew and heading over to them. Chestnutpaw followed her. He touched noses with Dandelionpaw, his sister, before laying down between her and Birchpaw to eat the squirrel he had caught.  
“How’s that cut doing Doepaw?” Birchpaw asked her friend.  
“It’s fine, though Darkwhisker doesn’t think so, he keeps putting stuff on it,” she groaned.  
“Aww, he just wants you to get better,” Dandelionpaw defended the medicine cat.  
“No way! He should leave it and let it scar! Scars are cool, they make you look tough!” Horsepaw argued.  
“But a scar from a border fight with a kittypet? That’s not cool,” Doepaw said to her sister.  
They all jumped when a deep voice said from behind them,”well, you were protecting the borders from an intruder and that’s pretty ‘cool’, right?” They looked over their shoulders to see their leader and deputy, Pricklestar and Blossomcurl, as well as all their mentors; Softcloud, Thornvine, Nightmoon, and Tailtip.  
“Your mentors and I have been talking and we think that it’s time for your assessment. Now Lionpaw, since you are a moon younger than your friends, you will have to wait another moon for your assessment. But for the rest of you, you will be having your assessment tomorrow. Now, don’t talk for much longer, as you’ll need lots of sleep to be focused tomorrow,” and with that he turned around and headed back inside his den. Blossomcurl smiled widely at Chestnutpaw before following him.  
“We’re all so proud of you!” Softcloud said to the apprentices and all the other warriors nodded, agreeing with her.  
“Softcloud, Tailtip, come here, I need to check your wounds,” Darkwhisker’s gravelly voice called out.  
Tailtip ran her tail over Dandelionpaw’s shoulders before following Softcloud over to the medicine den. Thornvine and Nightmoon said a few words to their apprentices before walking over to the freshkill pile.  
“Wow! Our assessment! This is so exciting!” Horsepaw exclaimed,”What do you think our warrior names will be?”  
“This is so not fair,” Lionpaw grumbled as finished his prey and headed off to the apprentices den.  
“I think mine will be Dandelionfluff!” Dandelionpaw said excitedly.  
“No! Your name will be Dandelionlion!” Doepaw giggled which made them all laugh,” and yours will be Chestnutnut!” She said to Chestnutpaw.  
They all finished their prey and one by one headed off to their dens until only Birchpaw and Chestnutpaw were left. The sun had just set and warriors of Starclan were bright in the dark sky. It had gotten chilly as it was only early newleaf and the two apprentices were snuggled up together.  
Chestnutpaw took the last bite of his squirrel and licked Birchpaw’s ears.  
“We better go to sleep,” he whispered, as most of the clan cats had gone to their dens. Birchpaw yawned and nodded and they made their way into their dens together. They curled up and drifted to sleep with their tails entwined and their pelts brushing.


	2. Chapter 2

Something knocked his nose.   
“Ow.”  
It happened again.  
“Stop it.”  
This time it came down harder on his nose.   
“Ow! What is it?” Chestnutpaw opened his eyes and lifted his head up. Standing in front of him was Birchpaw and Dandelionpaw. His sister’s paw was outstretched towards his nose. He frowned, annoyed. He was ‘this’ close to catching that mouse.  
“We’re having our assessment today! So get up sleepyhead!” Dandelionpaw teased as she headed out of the den.  
Chestnutpaw yawned and stretched as he got out of his den.   
Birchpaw giggled,”you look like a den!”  
When Chestnutpaw gave her a confused look she pointed to the scraps of moss on his pelt, which he groomed off quickly, embarrassed.  
They headed out together and padded over to the other apprentices. It had rained during the night and was a chilly morning, so the freshkill that had been left on pile was soggy and cold. Tailtip was searching through it to find a nice, dry piece of freshkill. The other cats that were awake were huddled together with their fur fluffed up.  
Chestnutpaw and Birchpaw sat with the other apprentices who were all excitedly talking, except for Lionpaw who was glaring at the ground. Chestnutpaw felt bad that he would be the only apprentice after today, that is, if they passed their assessment, he thought anxiously.   
Every minute that passed waiting for their mentors to arrive just made Chestnutpaw even more nervous. The first mentor to arrive was Dandelionpaw’s, Tailtip, he was small, white cat with a long tail that had a black tip. They had formed a very close relationship and as he padded over he touched noses with his apprentice. Chestnutpaw wondered wether their relationship was closer than just mentor and apprentice...  
Softcloud and Nightmoon came over next, sitting and talking with their apprentices, Doepaw and Horsepaw.   
Chestnutpaw’s mentor, the deputy, Blossomcurl, came over next with Birchpaw’s mentor, Thornvine, and their leader, Pricklestar.  
Pricklestar smiled to the apprentices and their mentors before heading out of the camp entrance and leaping from rock to rock over the stream. While he was leaping, Chestnutpaw admired his strength, how his muscles bunched and released as he jumped.   
He felt someone nudge him and realised it was his turn to cross the stream. As he reached the other side he waited with the other cats as Blossomcurl and Birchpaw crossed. He looked up at his leader. Now, Chestnutpaw was a big cat, he towered over his mentor and the other apprentices and most of the warriors, the only cats his size were his sister, Darkwhisker and Rainhawk, a warrior that was only a moon older than him. But Pricklestar, he towered over Chestnutpaw. He looked like a lion he was so big. He had deep brown fur that was very long, which made him look even bigger. There was patches of almost white fur along his back and his eyes were rimmed with dark brown.  
Pricklestar cleared his throat, he had noticed Chestnutpaw staring. Chestnutpaw laughed nervously.  
Pricklestar stood up after Birchpaw finished crossing the stream.  
“Welcome to your last day of your apprenticeship,” he smiled at them all.  
“While you are hunting, your mentors and I will be watching you. First, you will hunt by yourselves, than in pairs. I want you all to catch at least one fish and one mouse, vole or squirrel.” He gave them all a kind look, one at a time. “Chestnutpaw, you and Birchpaw will hunt in the forest by the border.” Chestnutpaw jumped at his name being said.  
“Doepaw, you and Dandelionpaw will hunt in the clearing by the rabbit rocks.” Doepaw and Dandelionpaw nodded.  
“Horsepaw, you will hunt in the meadow near the east border. Since you don’t have a partner, your mentor will hunt with you while I watch you. Your mentors will tell you when you should start hunting in pairs and I want all of you here at sun high.” He nodded and signaled to them to start before he turned and ran into the bushes. Before following him, the apprentices’ mentors wished them good luck.  
“We should head off,” Doepaw said to Dandelionpaw.  
“Yeah,” Dandelionpaw agreed. “Good luck guys!” She called out to them before bounding over the grass.  
They wished each other good luck and headed off.  
“Oh, mouse bile...” Chestnutpaw mumbled as he and Birchpaw ran to the forest.  
“You nervous?” Birchpaw smirked.  
“Yes,” Chestnutpaw answered truthfully.  
Birchpaw’s expression softened and she padded to a stop as they were deep into the forest. “Don’t be, you’ll do great!” She touched her nose to his and ran off to go hunt.  
Chestnutpaw smiled to himself before heading off in the opposite direction.  
He crept in the undergrowth, opening his mouth to scent any prey. He kept his tail low as not to rustle the ferns.   
He heard the sound of little paws skittering on the ground. He slid towards it. He peeked out of the bushes to see a little brown mouse nibbling on a nut. He bunched his muscles and pounced, killing the prey in a swift bite.  
His mouth watered at the scent of the mouse, but he resisted the urge to bite and hid the prey under some roots, which he covered with dirt.  
He padded off to hunt for more prey, smelling a vole as soon as he opened him mouth.  
—————————————————-——  
Chestnutpaw has been hunting for a little while, the sun had risen completely and was warming his dark-ginger pelt. He had caught two mice and a small squirrel. The vole he had smelt had run off after a bird made a warning call.   
He was by the roots of the oak he had buried the prey in, placing the squirrel on the pile when he heard someone call his name,” Chestnutpaw!” He jumped and spun around. He mentor had stuck her head out of a bush and was calling out to him.  
“It’s time to start hunting in pairs. Thornvine and Birchpaw are waiting by the forest lake. Get your prey and join us there.” Her head dissapered into the bush.  
Chestnutpaw, after picking up his prey by the tails, sprinted to the forest lake, a large ditch in the forest that filled up with water. It had dried up last greenleaf, forcing prey and animals to the stream surrounding the camp. Hunting had been easy that greenleaf, they had even seen a deer!  
Chestnutpaw leaped over a fallen log and saw Birchpaw and Thornvine as well as his mentor sitting around the forest lake with Birchpaw’s prey. She had caught two fat shrews.  
He slowed down and padded over to them, catching his breath.   
“Blossomcurl and I will both be assessing you while you hunt as pairs. We also want you to go to the stream at some point and catch some fish.” Thornvine instructed them. “We want you to hunt in the clearing just outside of the forest.” She added before she and Blossomcurl padded into the ferns.  
Birchpaw looked over at Chestnutpaw,” I told you you’d be great!” She said,” you’ve caught heaps!”   
Chestnutpaw felt his fur go hot under her kind gaze.” S-so did you...” he stuttered.  
Birchpaw giggled,” we should start heading off before it gets too hot.”   
Birchpaw and Chestnutpaw headed to the clearing after having a quick drink from the forest lake.  
—————————————————-——  
Chestnutpaw drank from the stream, the cool water was refreshing after hunting in the sun. He and Birchpaw had caught together a rabbit and a water vole. They had each caught a fish, after having a small splashing fight that had scared away the smaller fish. They had finished and were making their way back to the stepping stones.  
They had so much prey they had to call their mentors out to help them take it all back. On the way back to the stepping stones, they ran into a border patrol consisting of Cherryheart and Speckledface , Chestnutpaw and Dandelionpaw parents, Ripplemist and Pinespeck, senior warriors that were close to retiring.   
Cherryheart chuckled,”got enough prey there?”   
Ripplemist groaned,”some young cat is going to get all the good prey before we get back!”  
Pinespeck gave her a sweet look, he had developed feelings for her, feelings she had not shared,”if we’re fast we’ll get back before any ‘young cat’ gets it.”  
With that they padded off to the borders and the apprentices and their mentors kept on to the stepping stones with their mouths full of prey.  
They reached the stepping stones where the other apprentices and their mentors were waiting. As soon as the last cats had arrived, Pricklestar had appeared from the bushes. He nodded to all of them,”well done, all of you.” He helped carry some of the prey into the camp, leaping from rock to rock over the rushing river.  
The mentors followed him before their apprentices started to follow. As they entered the camp they saw Lionpaw rolling dirty moss and ferns into a ball. He saw them and growled before picking up the ball and shouldering past them to get out of the camp. The apprentices exchanged looks before making their way to the freshkill pile where their mentors and Pricklestar had placed the prey they had been carrying.  
After putting down their prey, the five apprentices sat down together. Only Doepaw has the appetite to eat anything, the others were too nervous to eat anything. They were chatting quietly, huddled together. No more hunting patrols had to go out today, as they had brought enough prey for every cat to eat twice.   
They watched the mouth of the leader’s den nervously, waiting for him to come out and tell them weather they had passed or not. It seemed like a moon before the leader padded out, followed by the mentors. Their mentors sat in front of the leader’s rock. Pricklestar leaped on top of the leader’s rock and yowled out.  
“Everyone over 6 moons of age come here to join me and our Starclan ancestors for a Roseclan meeting.” Their leader yowled out.  
The apprentices gave each other a nervous look before following their mentors to the leader’s rock.  
Cats from all around the camp came to the leader’s rock to hear what Pricklestar had to say.  
Talldusk and Icewish and their son, the medicine cat, Darkwhisker, padded out of the hollow tree that was the medicine cat den and Violetspot peered out of the hollowed trunk that was the nursery, with her two kits, Petalkit and Gorsekit, peeking out behind her.  
The old medicine cat, Silverpoppy, wandered out of the elders den with Riverbreeze, who paused to cough before limping to follow his littermate. Riverbreeze had retired early due to his front leg being amputated during a almost fatal badger attack. Cherryheart and Speckledface had arrived back with Ripplemist and Pinespeck, the two senior warriors had spoken with Pricklestar as well when they got back.  
The group followed the other warriors and sat in front of the Leader’s rock.  
Pricklestar looked over his clan and smiled.  
“We have gathered here today to celebrate the end of some of our apprentices’ apprenticeship.” A few of the Warrior’s cheered and Lionpaw glared at the ground, his mother, Violetspot, padded over and licked his ears. “Doepaw.” Doepaw jumped and snapped her head up to him. Pricklestar leaped down and signalled to her to take a step forward.   
Pricklestar looked towards the sky,”I, Pricklestar , leader of Roseclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.” He looked down to Doepaw,”Doepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”  
Doepaw nodded, before realising she had to speak,” I do.” She said quickly.  
Pricklestar nodded,”Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Doepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Doenose.“ He touched his nose to her head and she licked his shoulder.  
The same thing happened to Horsepaw and Dandelionpaw, their warrior names were Horsehoof and Dandelionstripes.  
Birchpaw was called up and her name was changed to Birchsong.   
“Chestnutpaw.” Chestnutpaw jumped and stepped forward to his leader.  
“Chestnutpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”  
“I do,” Chestnutpaw said shakely.  
”Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Chestnutpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Chestnutdust.” Chestnutpaw licked his shoulder when Pricklestar touched his nose to the new Warrior’s head.  
Pricklestar looked up to the clan,”welcome our new warriors!” He yowled. The clan chanted the new warrior’s names and Chestnutpaw looked at the ground, embarrassed, while his sister held her head up high, puffing out her chest a little.  
After the cheers died down, Pricklestar jumped onto the Leader’s rock.  
“We will also be saying goodbye to some of our warriors as well.” He nodded to Pinespeck and Ripplemist, who stepped forward. “Our two senior warriors will be joining Silverpoppy and Riverbreeze in the elders den.” He waited while the clan chanted the senior cat’s names. “Pinespeck, Ripplemist, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?”  
Pinespeck and Ripplemist nodded,”it is.”  
Pricklestar bowed his head, showing respect to the two older warriors. “Roseclan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest.” The two new elders made their way over to Ripplemist’s elder littermates, Silverpoppy and Riverbreeze, while the clan cheered their names.  
“And with our Starclan ancestors watching, I conclude this clan meeting.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for not updating for so long, so here is two chapters at once! Enjoy :D

“I’m going to have kits!”  
The words swam in his head as Chestnutdust ran to the forest. Picking up speed, he leaped over a fallen log and crashed through the undergrowth. Prey scattered as he bounded his way through the bushes. He skidded to a stop and swiped at a tree trunk, clawing the bark off.   
He growled in between pants and dug his claws into the dirt.  
“Chestnutdust!” He growled as he heard his mate’s call. Birchsong leaped over the log and padded over to him.  
“Chestnutdust, what was that? You just ran off, in the middle of a meeting!”   
“How could Dandelionstripes do that! How could she have kits so young! She’s barely a warrior!” Chestnutdust glared at the ground.  
“Having kits is her decision! Not anybody else’s. What? Are you scared she won’t have anytime for you?” Birchsong teased.  
“Yes!”  
“Oh.”  
“You don’t know what it’s like! You don’t have any littermates!” Chestnutdust snapped, then regretted it instantly when he saw the look on Birchsong’s face. Birchsong has been born with two other kits, Grasskit and Mousekit. Mousekit has died a few hours after he had been born and Grasskit had died during a fox attack, an attack that had also killed Birchsong’s father, Jetpatches. They had both been killed a few days before their apprentice ceremony. Birchsong has stayed in the nursery for a moon longer with her mother, Smallleaf, until she was ready to become an apprentice with the two other kits in the nursery, Chestnutkit and Dandelionkit.  
Tears welled up in Birchsong’s eyes. She sniffed and Chestnutdust padded over to her and nuzzled her cheek with his own.  
“I-I didn’t mean it like that...” he mumbled.   
Birchsong shook her head, trying to get rid of the tears,” I know... I’m fine.” She took a deep breath,”listen, even though I might not know about littermates, I know that it’s your sister’s choice to have kits or not. I know you might be upset because Dandelionstripes ‘is’ so young, but that’s her and Tailtip’s decision.” Birchsong used a firm voice when she said the last sentence.  
Chestnutdust hung his head, ashamed, and nodded.  
Birchsong nudged his head up,” listen, how about we go back and you can apologise to her.” Chestnutdust smiled weakly, a smile that Birchsong returned just as weakly.   
They both stood up and padded back to the camp. When they reached the stepping stones, they bounced from one to another, Chestnutdust could remember when he was so small that he couldn’t make it from one side to another without help. The pushed their way into the camp to see a crowd around a sobbing cat.  
Dandelionstripes has tears streaming down her cheeks as Violetspot tried to comfort the tortoiseshell while her kits were playing with her tail. The crowd around Dandelionstripes consisted of Pricklestar, Blossomcurl, Icewish, Speckledface, Silverpoppy and Darkwhisker. Icewish and Speckledface’s mates, Talldusk and Cherryheart, were standing a few tail lengths away, looking a little lost. Darkwhisker was trying to give her thyme while his old mentor, Silverpoppy, was pushing him away, saying that she was upset not nervous. Tailtip had his long tail wrapped around Dandelionstripes hips and was nuzzling her.  
When Chestnutdust padded in all eyes turned to him; Blossomcurl gave her ex-apprentice a glare, while the leader shook his head at him. Tailtip growled at him for hurting his mate and Violetspot eyed him. Icewish and Speckledface exchanged an annoyed look before going back to comforting the new queen. Silverpoppy pushed Darkwhisker away and purses her lips at Chestnutdust.  
When Dandelionstripes saw Chestnutdust she pushed all the cats away and padded over to him.  
“Dandelionstripes, listen, I’m sorry about what I did during the meeting. I wasn’t thinking straight and I didn’t think about how you would feel. I was scared that you wouldn’t have time for me if you had kits... I know that’s silly and I know that’s it your choice to have kits or not, but the reason I acted like I did was because I was surprised... I’m sorry.” Chestnutdust hung his head.  
Dandelionstripes sighed,” I know you’re sorry, but-“  
Tailtip butted in.  
“How dare you hurt my mate! Dandelionstripes did nothing to deserve this hate from you, her own kin!” He spat the last word at Chestnutdust, and the reddish-ginger tom flinched and hung his head.  
Dandelionstripes bristled. “I may be pregnant but I’m not incompetent of protecting myself!” She pushed Tailtip out of the way. She turned to her brother,” Chestnutdust, you had no reason to act like that! But, I know you’re sorry and I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, I would do the same as you.” Chestnutdust smiled at the yellow molly.  
“Okay, that was a lie, I wouldn’t act like that. But we’re different cats!” The siblings mrrowed with laughter. Chestnutdust purred and soon Dandelionstripes joined in.   
Seeing his mate was happy, Tailtip relaxed and took a step back, letting his neck fur settle down. The other cats that had comforted the new queen padded off when they saw that everything was over.  
Birchsong padded over to the siblings and Tailtip with prey in her mouth,” it’s fresh!” Her voice was muffled by the prey, which she dropped in front of them.  
They started to eat and the ginger cat’s mates chatted with another.  
“So... are you showing yet?” Chestnutdust asked Dandelionstripes.  
She rolled over so her kin could see her small bump.  
“A little, I’m surprised you didn’t notice it before,” she purred,”I guess you aren’t very good at noticing things, even if they were on your nose, mouse brain!” She teased, purring more. Chestnutdust pretended to be hurt by her words, but a deep purr was rumbling in his chest.  
“Dandelionfluff would have been a good name,” he seemed to say it out of the blue.  
She stopped purring,” why?”  
“Because your head is full of it!” He laughed and Dandelionstripes hit him on the shoulder with her paw, purring.  
They watched the sky darken and silverpelt shine in the red-turning-purple sky.  
Dandelionstripes got up with Tailtip,”goodnight,” she nuzzled his cheek,” mousebrain,” she added as they padded away.  
Chestnutdust called out, quietly as most of the warriors were asleep,” goodnight fluff-brain!” He teased her.   
Chestnutdust crawled closer to Birchsong. He pressed his cheek against the She-cat’s cream and grey one. She purred.  
They didn’t talk, but thousands of words were shared between them. Chestnutdust hoped Birchsong knew how grateful he was that she had convinced him to talk to her sister. He just couldn’t form the words to tell her his gratitude. Together they watched the sky darken from purple to navy.  
They only got up when the sky was black and Silverpelt shone so brightly it hurt to stare at it for too long. They got up and padded to their dens, their pelts brushing and tails wrapped up together.   
They sunk into the moss and ferns, squeezing closer to eachother in the cold.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for not updating for so long, so here is two chapters at once! Enjoy :D

Screams filled the clearing, waking Birchsong up with a jump. Chestnutdust was gone. When another blood curdling scream tore through the air, the cream and grey molly ran out of the warrior den.  
She saw Dandelionstripes on the ground surrounded by the medicine cat, Darkwhisker, her mate, Tailtip, and her brother, Chestnutdusk. The clan was surrounding her in a semi-circle.   
Darkwhisker was trying to order cats around, but they weren’t listening, shocked at Dandelionstripes, Who was still screaming.   
‘Where was Pricklestar?’ Birchsong thought as she ran over Darkwhisker and started to yell at cats to get water-soaked moss, ferns for a nest and to get out of the way. The warriors and apprentices broke their semicircle and Violetspot’s kits- Lionstorm, Petalpaw and Gorsepaw- ran off to get moss and ferns. Darkwhisker called over Cherryheart, Pinespeck and Rainhawk. The toms carefully picked up the kitting queen and brought her over to the nursery. They pushed through the ferns into the hollowed out tree.   
Silverpoppy ran out of the hollow tree that was the medicine den. It sat next to the nursery. She ran over to Birchsong with herbs in her mouth, the warrior pointed to the nursery with her tail and the retired medicine cat ran through the hanging ferns.  
Another scream broke the night’s silence as three yellow cats ran back into the camp. Lionstorm had dripping moss in his mouth while his kin, Petalpaw and Gorsepaw, had dry moss and ferns. Birchsong pointed to the nursery and they followed her tail. They camp back out a moment later with Cherryheart, Pinespeck and Rainhawk. Tailtip pushed past them and tried to be with his mate, but Silverpoppy shooed him away. He paced outside of the nursery.  
During the moons while Dandelionstripes was pregnant a lot of things happened. Lionpaw completed his assessment and became Lionstorm, while his siblings, Petalkit and Gorsekit, reached 6 moons old and were apprenticed to Icewish and Smallleaf. Talldusk retired and became a elder, while his young mate, Icewish, stayed as a warrior.  
Birchsong was torn from her thinking by a yell. Though it wasn’t Dandelionstripes’, it was Tailtip. He was yelling at Silverpoppy to let him see his mate. Cherryheart broke them up and talked to Tailtip.   
The hollow started to quiet down and, apart from the occasional scream, it was quiet. Most cats had gone back to sleep, or at least tried to. A group of warriors couldn’t go back to sleep and had gone out on a border patrol when the sky started to lighten from navy to a deep purple colour.  
When the sky turned light purple, Darkwhisker padded out of the nursery, beaming. Tailtip brushes past him as he ran into the nursery. Chestnutdust, who had been staring at a mouse and flinching whenever Dandelionstripes yelled out, got up and followed Tailtip into the nursery. He came out a little bit later, he was smiling.  
Chestnutdust padded over to Birchsong.  
“Well?” She asked,” how many and what kind of cat are they?”   
Chestnutdust grinned,” there’s two, a tom and a molly, and they’re both calico. One’s a fluff ball and the other has as much fur as Tailtip!” He purred and Birchsong joined in- Tailtip had very short hair and complained when the sun wasn’t shining.   
“Do they have names yet?” She purred.  
“No, but I think they want to name them after cats,” he looked back at the nursery and saw his parents, Cherryheart and Speckledface, go into the nursery to see his sister.

 

The next day, Birchsong went to the nursery to visit the new queen. She pushed her head in with a mouse hanging from her jaws to see if Dandelionstripes was awake. She was and the cream and grey warrior padded inside.  
“Good morning,” Dandelionstripes purred.  
Birchsong dipped her head,” morning, I brought you something to eat,” She motioned to the mouse that was dropped in front of Dandelionstripes.  
The striped cat purred and started to eat.   
Birchsong sat and peered over the queen’s tail, which Dandelionstripes moved so the other she-cat could see better, and saw two little calico kits.  
She beamed and purred,” they’re so tiny!” Dandelionstripes nodded. “Have you named them yet?”   
“Yes, the fluffy one is the tom and his name is Spottedkit and the other is the molly is called Tallkit,” she said between mouthfuls.  
Birchsong’s eyes widened,” like her grandfather, Talldusk?” She asked and Dandelionstripes nodded.   
Tailtip peered inside of the den and saw Birchsong in with his mate,”morning Birchsong!” He said, cheerfully.  
“Morning!” Birchsong got up and turned to Dandelionstripes,”I’d better go so you two can be with your kits,” Dandelionstripes looked at her gratefully.  
Birchsong padded out of the nursery and Chestnutdust called her over.  
“We were just about to go hunting, do you want to join us?” With him was Icewish and her apprentice Gorsepaw, Smallleaf with her apprentice Petalpaw and Nightmoon. Birchsong nodded and the group of warriors and apprentices padded out of the camp, jumping from rock to rock over the stream that surrounded the camp. They headed to the forest to hunt and as they padded into the bushes, Birchsong touched noses with Chesnutdust.


End file.
